Henry
Braid Wilson Jr. was born on Mount Vernon Street in Camden NJ on
February 23, 1861 to
Henry Braid Wilson Sr. and his wife Mary Ann. His father was a prominent
citizen in Camden NJ, a successful businessman who served on City
Council, on the the Commission of
Public Instruction, the precursor of the city Board of Education, and as
Postmaster for Camden at different times.

Henry
Wilson Jr. enrolled at the United States Naval Academy at the age of 15,
and graduated in 1881. He soon began
his illustrious Navy career, first as a training officer for
apprentices, then serving in the West Indies, Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean
and the Great Lakes. Wilson saw
action in the Spanish-American War as a lieutenant, and was "highly
commended for coolness and bravery," says a newspaper account.

In
1916, he was assigned to the command of the USS Pennsylvania, flagship
of the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet.

USS
PENNSYLVANIA BB-38

In
April of 1917, when America entered World War I, he was made commander
of the American fleet in French waters by the First World War. Admiral
Wilson convoyed troops and supplies to France during the war without the
loss of a single life.

For
his "outstanding wartime services, Admiral Wilson was awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal, the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor of
France, Commander of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus of Italy
and the Grand Official of the Military Order of Avia of Portugal,"
the newspaper account says. In 1919, Wilson was given command of the
Atlantic Fleet.

In
April 1919, Camden welcomed Admiral Henry B. Wilson to the city with
receptions, motorcades, planked shad dinner, and a reception at the
Third Regiment Armory. Prosecutor Charles A.
Wolverton, later a 16 term
Congressman from Camden, addressed the banquet gathering. "It was a
Camden officer, in the person of Admiral Wilson, who taught the Kaiser
and his war lords that there is no such word as 'impossible' to be found
in all the historic records of the American Navy."

Admiral
Wilson served as the commandant of the United States Naval Academy from
1921 through 1925. His final rank was that of Rear Admiral. He retired,
first to California, and then to New York.

In
November of 1929 he again returned to Camden, for the Armistice Day
celebration. It was then when the newly constructed Bridge Boulevard,
which ran from the Delaware River Bridge to the Airport Circle in
Pennsauken, was renamed the Admiral Wilson
Boulevard.

Admiral
Wilson and his wife Ada were living in Philadelphia PA at the time of
the 1930 census. He passed away on January 30, 1954.

Admiral
Wilson's brother, Phillip Wilson became president of the Central
Trust Bank, and was later a vice-president at Camden
Trust. Phillip's wife, the former Emma Foulon, was the daughter
of Charles Foulon who founded a bakery in the 1880s at 524 Federal
Street. After her father's death in 1905 Emma's brother, also named Charles
Foulon, operated the business, which also included an ice
cream parlor, for many years.

Philadelphia
Inquirer - May 5, 1899

Lieutenant
Henry B. Wilson, of the battleship Indiana, is home on a brief leave of
absence.

Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson ’81
(1921-1925), the twenty-sixth superintendent, reported to the Naval
Academy having just completed a tour as Commander in Chief, Atlantic
Fleet, reverting from a four star billet to that of a Rear Admiral upon
acceptance of his new orders. An imposing figure, Wilson, ultimately
referred to by midshipmen as "Uncle Harry," believed strongly
that the Academy’s crucial task was the development of character, with
truth as the cornerstone. Launching a campaign to make the academy
"more humane," Wilson revised Christmas leave and inaugurated an
Easter leave, as well. He had no tolerance for hazing and in its place
instituted a system of "rates," or privileges, incorporating
many traditional but unofficial practices into academy regulations. He
created the first USNA department of physical training in 1923 and
introduced one of the Academy’s most romantic traditions, the Ring
Dance, in 1925. It is said that Admiral Wilson’s administration
constituted the transition between the cloistered academy of the
nineteenth century and the open academy of the twentieth.

In
1921 evidence of continuing difficulty with hazing was apparent with the
publication of a letter to the Brigade by Rear Admiral Henry B. Wilson,
Superintendent. Wilson reminded the students that they were not empowered
to punish any other Midshipmen by denial of such things as food and rest.
He also made clear in the following remarks that Classmate loyalty was not
to be confused with honor. Wilson stated:

Tradition never did and never will require one on duty to assume
responsibility for the derelictions of a Classmate or shipmate. Worthwhile
friends will not place a Midshipman on duty in a position where he must
either report them or himself or assume the responsibility for an offence
more serious—neglect of duty—which may carry with it distrust and
possible dismissal. Class spirit is commendable…But it is indefensible
through a mistaken idea of “Class honor” to shield another who has
knowingly failed to accord to the regiment that honorable position which
generations of Midshipmen have earned for it.

Boulevard
was named for decorated World War I admiral

By
LAURIE STUART
Courier-Post

Admiral
Wilson.

Motorists
who have driven through Camden instantly recognize the name, but most
don't know who he is.

Henry
Braid Wilson was born in Camden in 1861. At the age of 15, he went to
the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., where he graduated in 1881. He
soon began his illustrious Navy career, first as a training officer for
apprentices, then serving in the West Indies, Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean
and the Great Lakes.

Wilson
saw action in the Spanish-American War as a lieutenant, and was
"highly commended for coolness and bravery," says a newspaper
account.

In
1916, he was assigned to the command of the USS Pennsylvania, flagship
of the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet. The following year …
when the United States entered World War I … he was assigned commander
of the U.S. Naval Forces in France. For his "outstanding wartime
services, Admiral Wilson was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal,
the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor of France, Commander of the
Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus of Italy and the Grand Official of
the Military Order of Avia of Portugal," the newspaper account
says. In 1919, Wilson became commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet.
Two years later, he was appointed superintendent of the U.S. Naval
Academy. In 1923, he retired with the rank of rear admiral. In
accordance with a Congressional Act, he was later given the rank of
admiral.

Although
Wilson retired to California, then to New York, his parents still lived
in Camden, where his father, also Henry B. Wilson, was a member of the
Camden Board of Education. In fact, the H.B. Wilson School at 9th and
Florence streets is named for his father.

So
when do Admiral Wilson and the boulevard cross paths? While some people
think that was on Armistice Day in 1929, that's not altogether true.

Bridge
Entrance Road or Bridge Boulevard opened in 1925 as the main highway to
the Ben Franklin Bridge. Four years later, Wilson returned as an honored
guest of Camden and during Armistice Day ceremonies, officials decided
to rename the highway "in honor of Camden's great native son."

So
South Jerseyans came to know the highway as Admiral Wilson Boulevard.
What they thought, however, didn't ring true. While everyone was under
the impression that the boulevard … which goes through Camden and
Pennsauken … had been renamed in 1929, there was a slight wrinkle. In
1937, it was discovered that the name change had not been made official.

"When
the Forest Hills development was made, Camden approved a change of name
honoring one of Camden's most renowned citizens, and later, during the
administration of Mayor Winfield S.
Price, a resolution was passed to
make the name, as the then commissioners thought, official," says a
Nov. 18, 1937 Courier-Post article.

"But
an ordinance to approve the change was necessary, and no ordinance was
ever passed. . . So next Wednesday, when commissioners meet a day early
on account of the Thanksgiving holiday, Commissioner Frank J. Hartmann
will sponsor an ordinance which will make Bridge Boulevard Admiral
Wilson Boulevard once and for all. Pennsauken Township is expected to do
the same."

Admiral Henry B.
Wilson in Camden - 1926

On
April 22, 1959 the guided missile-firing destroyer USS
HENRY B. WILSON DDG-7was launched at Bay City MI, with Mrs.
Patrick Hurley, Admiral Wilson's daughter, attending. The Wilson
served in the Pacific and off the coast of Vietnam during that conflict.
After along and distinguished career she was converted into a power
barge in 1996, and sunk as a target off the coast of California on
August 15, 2003. Click here for more pictures and information on the USS
HENRY B. WILSON DDG-7.